The Best Video Game Adaptations of TV & Movies, Period

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Hey. When’s the last time you played a good video game based on a movie or a TV show?

Been awhile, right?? It’s true! Video game adaptations are notorious for being crappy. This is for a number of reasons: namely that the story that the game is telling has, well, frankly, already been told in the thing it’s being adapted from. Also, because not every movie or show is well suited for a video game adaptation, like that awful version of Requiem for a Dream (“press X to thrust! Mash buttons to hold back tears!”).

But mostly, movie and TV video games are lousy because they’re rushed through the development process so that they hit shelves to coincide with a season premiere or a nationwide opening. And while a game like, say, BioShock Infinite can take something like a 2-year delay to get the nuts and bolts just right, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel had to be fast-tracked, with predictable results. Also, I just had to double check to make sure I spelled “Squeakuel” correctly, and now I am very sad.
And if zombies, DIAF.

How to Make a Gamer

SO. Today we’re going to go through *MY* favorite video game adaptations. I say *MY* and not *THE* because what little research I’ve done has yielded some rather divisive opinions. As my as my Man Cave Daily colleague Alli Reed said, “I’m going to speak on behalf of your future commentators and say yes, the internet has some opinions on this subject.”

Ok. So, first, let’s set a few ground rules:

No Jokes About Bad Games

Because this has been done to death. The Internet has eviscerated the Atari version of E.T. several times over. Everyone knows about Friday the 13th’s silly “Game Over” screen. And Who Framed Roger Rabbit has long since taught me that if you ever stop being funny, your loved ones will die.

That last one? Stuck with me longer than I care to admit. But anyway, no jokes about bad games. We’ve already been there.